Four Forum strangers

Woodspring Golf and Country Club

Yanley Lane

Long Ashton

Bristol

Tel: 01275 394378

Green Fees Weekday: £20 or £12 with members

Green Fees Weekend: £28.50 or £18 with members.

We finally did it…after much rhetoric and chatting to each other on the GOLFmagic forum, four of us got together and played in the inaugural GOLFmagic fourball at Woodspring Golf and Country Club near Bristol…and what a day we all had!

None of us had met before, but we had one thing in common…Golf…the love of it and the love of chatting about it with our fellow members on the site through the forum. That is the power of GOLFmagic, bringing golfers together by using the localiser section and the forum.

Phil Jones was the main conspirator behind the day out, choosing Bristol as the most central venue between us all and we headed off down the M4 for Woodspring Golf club on the outskirts of the city.

The first hole on the Avon course

The moment we arrived, we knew it would be a special day as Phil handed us our "uniform" for the day with a memorable piece of embroidery to mark the occasion along with a very handy waterproof hat.

GOLFmagic editor Martin Park reciprocated, handing out some golf balls to everyone and once introductions were out of the way, it was time to head out for 18 holes of chat and golf, broken up by a "halfway hut pitstop" of nearly two hours!!!

Woodspring is a fairly new course, only opened in September 1994 and it is fast growing into one of the jewels in the South West region. From the moment you arrive, you feel comfortable with the salubrious surroundings and the facilities are top notch.

There are 27-holes here, named after the surrounding area and history, the Brunel, Avon and Severn and the holes are complemented by a superb clubhouse, a 25-bay covered driving range and the facilities include a sauna, Jacuzzi and swimming pool for your apres golf! Not ordinary by any stretch of the imagination.

We started on the Severn course with everyone extremely nervous standing over the first tee shot…'Jonesy', as the organiser, had the privilege of ripping his first tee shot way into the cloudy yonder followed by 'Parky' and Neil King, the most nervous of them all. Neil was the one who started the forum asking for help with his game and you could almost see the relief etched across his face as he connected with his first shot of the day.

Then up stepped Suzanne, feeling nervous, but not bowing to the pressure as she fairly smacked her ball up the course and everyone was off and running!

Woodspring is full of great holes and magnificent views. As soon as you reach the heights of the 3rd hole, you can see the valley beneath you and right across to Bristol itself.

L to R…Martin Park, Suzanne Cooper, Phil Jones and Neil King

Pick of the holes is the ninth on the Severn course. A tough hole for anyone including the scratch player. A perfect tee shot is needed to find the fairway which nestles below you with a stream crossing at "driver range" and dense jungle to the left.

The second shot must carry over water to a slightly elevated green and you will have a mid to long iron in your hand for that one! Tough hole and one you would do well to par.

A timely exit to the clubhouse was next as it was getting chilly and everyone needed to replenish energy as the soft conditions were beginning to take their toll.

The food on the menu is excellent with perhaps the best bacon baguettes this side of Denmark! Beer is fairly priced at £2 a pint and it is the perfect spot to watch the football too….if you like that kind of thing!

Nearly two hours later, we resumed our round on the Brunel course, much to the relief of Suzanne, who, like any other lady, (perhaps not Laura Davies) would struggle with some of the carries from tee to fairway onteh Severn course.

The Brunel is a much better 9-holes to play, easier to walk and easier to score on, with the exception of the second hole.

A par three of only 162-yards, it is a hole where you must find the green, other wise water awaits on the right and out of bounds down the left!

All of a sudden, there became a bit of competition on our stable ford round with 'Jonesy' and 'Parky' both tied on the same score coming down the stretch and a bit of Ryder cup style needle was on the cards as the others just watched and egged us both on!!!

It would all be decided down the ninth hole on the Brunel, one of Jonesy's favourites! Both of us found the fairway…and both of us took five to get in the hole after some calamitous short game skills…or was it choking under the pressure of winning the inaugural day out for GOLFmagic?

Suzanne and Neil just laughed at the incompetence of the two of us to chip and putt as they had shown us how to do it most of the way around! Two chips and two putts later from each of us secured a "blob" and the match was tied somewhat appropriately!

Woodspring is a must visit if you are in the area. We were all made to feel welcome and the course, while it was wet in places, suffering under the recent heavy rainfall, it was still a great test of golf.

There was one unanimous winner of the day…Phil Jones' tee shot at the drive-able par four 5th hole on the Severn. A shot that everyone held their breath when he hit it, pitching it ten feet from the flag and stopping just ten feet away for an eagle two putt, the putt wasn't as good as the drive, but who cares, we all had a great day out and one that we will repeat once again in the very near future…And if anyone else wants to join us…feel free and check out the Forum on the site as that is where is all began.

Special thanks to Woodspring for allowing us courtesy of the course, it was fantastic. Thanks to Nigel Beer, John Field, Kevin Pitt, Andy Glenvil and course marshal David Franklin…you are all a credit to Woodspring and we hope to see you again soon.

GOLFmagic rating: 8 out of 10